Electric annunciator.



Patented July 29, |9032.`

y vw. n. WINTER. ELECTRIC ANNUNCIATUB.

(Application led Nov. 15, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I` (No Model) fjz 0672 for,"au

- No. 705,805. l Patented Iuly 29, |902.- w. WINTER.

E LEcTRlc AN-NUNcIAT'oH.

(Application filed-Nov. 16, 1901.)

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' i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM EMWINTER. or TEIiIvToIsI',` NEW JERSEY.

`.piatte-rale ANN u N'clAToR.

SPECIFIQATIN formingpart of Letters Patent N o. 705,805, dated July 29,' 1902.

Application filed November 15, `i901. i Serial No. 82,340. (No model.) y

T0 @ZZ wtomlzt' may concern: Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. WINTER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident t of Trenton, Mercer county, State of New J ersey-,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Annunciatorsfof which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an electric annunciator for sending alarms and other' signals from a number of delivery-stations to a common receiving-station. By my construction the several delivery stations are all connected to the receiving-station by the same wires, so that amultiplicity ofvwiring is prevented. The construction is, however, such that when a signal is sent from one box the operating-handles of all the other boxes be- `come automatically locked and in this way any interference of` the signals is prevented.

The inventionconsists in the various features of construction pointed outin the claims.'

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan of the signal-delivery box with the lcover removed; Fig. 2, a side view, partly in section, thereof; Fig. 3, a detail vertical section `through the center of the apparatus; Fig. 4, a cross-section on line 4E 4, Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a side view, partly in section', ofthe signalreceiving `boxi-Fig, 6, a section on line 6 6, Figi 5, andFig. 7 is a diagram showing the connections between areceiving-station and several delivery-stations.

In Figs. l tof/l` the letter u, represents the base-plate of the delivery-box, and a is the cover. From the plate a projectsupwardly a central pivot a2, around which isifree to rotate a pin-wheel -or commutator Z9, carrying upon its face a number of curved perforated projections or segments b', separated by slots or notches b2. Into the perforations ba of each segment are tted an equal number of pins b4, so that for, say,the irst station each segment carries one pin, for" the second station each segment carries two pins, (te. The hub b5 of wheel t isembraced by a box c', projecting downwardly from a ratchet-wheel c, which is also rotatable upon pivot a2. I A coiled spring d is contained Within thc box c', one'end of such spring being attached to the box and the other end being attached to the hub b5. A stop c2, projecting radially from box c', is adapted to bear against a pin port j'.

126, projecting upwardly from the wheel ZJ. The ratchet-wheel c is engaged bya springpawl e', pivoted at citofa hand-lever e, that turns on pivot ai". From the leveredepends `a pin e3, which is adapted to engage an inclined plane f ot' a lever f, pivoted to plate a at]cz and influenced by springf. The leverf is further provided with a hook f4 and with a detentf, which is adapted to enter either one of the slots b2 and to thus lock the wheel b in position. A spring e4 connects the end of hand-lever e` to the fulcrunnf2 and tends t0 return the lever toits normal position. Upon the rotation of wheel l) the pins b4 are adapted to strike against a spring contact-arm g,

which is insulated from plate a and connects y with the battery-wire 7L, the second batterywire h' being connected to `the plate a. In

`order to retard the motion of wheel b, it is glide between stopsjL a metal slide js, having an insulating front section j* and adapted to be engaged by pin e3 in the following manner:

-When lever e is turned downward, pin e3 will bear against an inclined face of the insulated sectionj4 of slide j and will take the slide along until it bears against the lower stop j? In` this way a further downward movement of will yield owing to the pressure of the pin e3 against the inclined face of slide js and to the elasticity of spring j, so that the pin will clear the slide. During the upward motion of lever e the pin e3 will bear against the inclined face of the metallic section of slide ja and clear the same at the upper stopj2 in a similar manner. The spring j is connected to a battery-wire 71,2, while the current enters at wire 7i. The lever c is adapted to be locked in its initial position by a hook-shaped armature 7s, turning on pivot 7c and held in engagement with the lever by electromagnets 7a2. These electromagnets receive the currentfrom battery A through wires t h4.

The receiving apparatus, Figs. 5 and G, is composed `of a box having shaft l', carrying a signal-wheel fn, upon the periphery of which Upon the spring j is adapted t0 are represented consecutively the numbers n of the delivery-stations, which are adapted to be exposed through a sight-openingZG. To the shaft Z are also secured a ratchet-wheel o and a commutatorp, having an insulated section 19'. Upon the commutatorp glide a pair of contact-springs p2 p3, which are insulated from their supportingarm Z2 and are connected to the wire ha h4. The ratchet-wheel 0 is engaged by a pawl o', pivoted to an armature-lever q at q@ The armature q is pivoted to its support Z3 at q2 and is inliuenced by a spring qa. The electromagnets g4 receive the current from battery B through Wires h h'.

The pawl o' is provided with an inclined projection o2, engaging an armature-lever r, pivoted to support Z4 at r and provided with a detent r4, engaging ratchet-wheel 0. The lever r is influenced by a spring r2, and its electromagnets r3 receive current from battery D by Wires h5 h2. Upon the end of shaft Z is litted a pulley s, around which is wound a string s', one end of which is attached to the pulley, while the other end is connected to a spring s2. The spring tends to rotate the wheel n until a pin n2 on such wheel strikes against a stop Z5 of box Z.

The operation is as follows: In order to give a signal from any transmitting-station to the common receiving-station, the handlever e of the transmitting-boxis turned downward. The lever e takes along the ratchetwheel c and also the stop c2 by pawl e', and in this way places the spring (Z under tension. During the last portion of the downward motion of lever e pin e3 bears against the outer end of inclinedplane f of lever f. By mov- `ing along said plane pin e3 will turn lever f outward around pin f2 to withdraw detent f3 from slot b2, so that pin-wheel Z) is liberated and will be turned by spring CZ until pin be bears against stop c2, which motion is retarded by means of the iy t'. During this turning of pin-wheel b lever f slides, with its detent f3, upon the periphery of pin-wheel b, so that pin e3 is engaged by hook f4, and consequently lever fis arrested in its lowermost position. As soon as pin b bears against stop c2 detent f3 will enter the next slot, and thus liberate lever e, so that it may be returned to its initial position by means of spring c4. Duringsaid turning of the pinwheel b the contact-spring g strikes the pins b4, and thus closes and opens a circuit, hereinafter described, as many times as there are pins in each segment b. Thus for station No. 3 the circuit will be closed three times and the signal-wheel n be advanced three spaces to expose the number 3 through the opening Z6. The current travels as follows: from battery B, electromagnets g4, wire h, contact g, pins b4, wheel b, plate a, wire h', back to the battery. The electromagnets q1 will attract armature q to rotate ratchet-wheel o by pawl o. The ratchet-wheel o transmits a corresponding motion to wheel n by shaft Z. As

striking against the stop Z5.

taneously turns commutator p to-metallically connect the ends of contacts 102193. This will close a circuit as follows: from battery A, wire h3, electromagnets k2, wire h4, contact p3, commutator p, contact p2, Wire 71,3, back to the battery. The electromagnets k2 will attract the armatures 7c of all the delivery-stations, and will thus lock all the levers e in their initial position with the exceptionof the lever e of thev station from which the alarm has been given, because that lever is locked in its forward position by hook f4. The result is that a signal cannot be given from any of the other boxes during the time that a signal is given from one box, and thus an intermingling of signals is prevented. When the pinwheel b has been arrested bythe pin h6 striking against the stop c2, as above described, the detent]CB will be brought into alinement with the next slot b2, and thus the leverfwill be swung inward by its springf5. This will withdraw the hook f4 and liberate the lever e, which will be returned to its initial position by spring e4. In order to swing the wheel n back into its normal position afterthe signal has been given, a third circuit is closed dur ing the backward movement of lever e in the following manner: As the lever e swings forward its pin e? will push the slide j3 along spring j by engaging the insulated sectionj* of said slide. When the lever e swings backward, its pin e3 will again take the slidel j3 along; but it will engage the metallic section of such slide. This will close a circuit as follows: from battery D, wire h2, springj, slide js, pin e3, lever e, plate a, wire 7L', wire h5, electromagnets r3, wire h2, back to the battery. The electromagnets r3 will attract armature r of the receiving-station, and thus withdraw the detent r4 from ratchet-Wheel o. ject of this detent is to prevent the ratchetwheel 0 from being turned backward by the spring s2, while the pawl o falls from one tooth into the next tooth during the forward rotation of the ratchet-wheel. As the armature-lever r is attracted it will not only raise the detent r4, but it will also by bearing against the arm o2lift the pawl o out of engagement with wheel o. The wheel o, and consequently the wheel n, being thus liberated, both wheels will be swung back into their initial position by spring S2. When the zero-mark on Wheel 'a has arrived opposite the sight-opening ZG, the wheel n will be arrested by the pin rn? In this position the contacts 192193 will engage the insulated section p of commutator p to open the current of battery A, and thus liberate the levers e of all the transmitting-stations, so that a new alarm may be given from any of such stations. The armature' 1* has a handle fr, and

by holding the same in its uppermost position the signal may be exposed for any desired length of time.

What I claim is@ l. In an electric annunciator, the combination of a series of delivery-stations each hav- ICO ing a series of commutator-seginents, a contact engaging the segments, a circuit controlled by the contact, an oscillating lever for operating the segments, a pin depending from the lever, an armature for locking the lever, and a yielding contact engaged by the pin, with a receiving-station having a signalwheel, a ratchet-wheel attached to the signalwheel, a pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, an electric armature for operating the pawl and controlled by the circuit coming from, the de livery-station, a second pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, an armature for operating the second pawl, a circuit controlled by the yield ing contact and adapted to operate the armature, a commutator attached to the signalwheel, two contacts engaging the commutator, and a circuit controlled by the con tacts and adapted to operate the armature table upon the frame, a hand-lever engaging the ratchet-wheel, a pin attached to the handlever, a commutator having openings and yieldingly connected to the ratchet-wheel, a spring-influenced oscillating lever having a detent, an inclined plane and a hook, the detent being adapted to engage the openings of the conunutator, the inclined plane being operated by the pin, and the hook being adapted to lock the hand-lever, substantially as specilied.

4. In an electric annunciator, a series of delivery-stations each having a frame, a yielding curved contact guide attached to the frame, a contact-piece adapted to slide upon the guide and composed of a metallic andan insulated portion, a circuit controlled by the metallic portion of the contactpiece, a handlever rotatable upon the frame, and a pin depending froin the hand-lever and adapted to operate the contact-piece, combined with a receiving-station having a ratchet-wheel, a pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, and an electric armature for operating the pawl and con; trolled by the circuit, substantially as specilied.

Signed by me at New York city, county and State of New York, `this 14th day of November, 1901.

Witnesses:

WM. SCHULZ, F. v. BRIESEN. 

